1/16/25, 10:36 AM Calculus I - The Definition of the Limit

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Section 2.10 : The Definition Of The Limit

In this section we’re going to be taking a look at the precise, mathematical definition of the
three kinds of limits we looked at in this chapter. We’ll be looking at the precise definition of
limits at finite points that have finite values, limits that are infinity and limits at infinity. We’ll
also give the precise, mathematical definition of continuity.

Let’s start this section out with the definition of a limit at a finite point that has a finite value.

Definition 1

Let f (x) be a function defined on an interval that contains x = a , except possibly at

x = a . Then we say that,

lim f (x) = L
x→a

if for every number ε > 0 there is some number δ > 0 such that

|f (x) − L| < ε whenever 0 < |x − a| < δ

Wow. That’s a mouth full. Now that it’s written down, just what does this mean?

Let’s take a look at the following graph and let’s also assume that the limit does exist.

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What the definition is telling us is that for any number ε > 0 that we pick we can go to our
graph and sketch two horizontal lines at L + ε and L − ε as shown on the graph above.
Then somewhere out there in the world is another number δ > 0 , which we will need to
determine, that will allow us to add in two vertical lines to our graph at a + δ and a − δ.

If we take any x in the pink region, i.e. between a + δ and a − δ, then this x will be closer
to a than either of a + δ and a − δ. Or,

|x − a| < δ

If we now identify the point on the graph that our choice of x gives, then this point on the
graph will lie in the intersection of the pink and yellow region. This means that this function
value f (x) will be closer to L than either of L + ε and L − ε. Or,

|f (x) − L| < ε

If we take any value of x in the pink region then the graph for those values of x will lie in
the yellow region.

Notice that there are actually an infinite number of possible δ's that we can choose. In fact,
if we go back and look at the graph above it looks like we could have taken a slightly larger
δ and still gotten the graph from that pink region to be completely contained in the yellow
region.

Also, notice that as the definition points out we only need to make sure that the function is
defined in some interval around x = a but we don’t really care if it is defined at x = a .
Remember that limits do not care what is happening at the point, they only care what is
happening around the point in question.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten the definition out of the way and made an attempt to
understand it let’s see how it’s actually used in practice.

These are a little tricky sometimes and it can take a lot of practice to get good at these so
don’t feel too bad if you don’t pick up on this stuff right away. We’re going to be looking at a
couple of examples that work out fairly easily.

Example 1 Use the definition of the limit to prove the following limit.

2
lim x = 0
x→0

Show Solution 

These can be a little tricky the first couple times through. Especially when it seems like
we’ve got to do the work twice. In the previous example we did some simplification on the

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left-hand inequality to get our guess for δ and then seemingly went through exactly the
same work to then prove that our guess was correct. This is often how these work,
although we will see an example here in a bit where things don’t work out quite so nicely.

So, having said that let’s take a look at a slightly more complicated limit, although this one
will still be fairly similar to the first example.

Example 2 Use the definition of the limit to prove the following limit.

lim 5x − 4 = 6
x→2

Show Solution 

Okay, so again the process seems to suggest that we have to essentially redo all our work
twice, once to make the guess for δ and then another time to prove our guess. Let’s do an
example that doesn’t work out quite so nicely.

Example 3 Use the definition of the limit to prove the following limit.

2
lim x + x − 11 = 9
x→4

Show Solution 

Okay, that was a lot more work that the first two examples and unfortunately, it wasn’t all
that difficult of a problem. Well, maybe we should say that in comparison to some of the
other limits we could have tried to prove it wasn’t all that difficult. When first faced with
these kinds of proofs using the precise definition of a limit they can all seem pretty difficult.

Do not feel bad if you don’t get this stuff right away. It’s very common to not understand this
right away and to have to struggle a little to fully start to understand how these kinds of limit
definition proofs work.

Next, let’s give the precise definitions for the right- and left-handed limits.

Definition 2

For the right-hand limit we say that,

lim f (x) = L
+
x→a

if for every number ε > 0 there is some number δ > 0 such that

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|f (x) − L| < ε whenever 0 < x − a < δ (or a < x < a + δ)

Definition 3

For the left-hand limit we say that,

lim f (x) = L
−
x→a

if for every number ε > 0 there is some number δ > 0 such that

|f (x) − L| < ε whenever − δ < x − a < 0 (or a − δ < x < a)

Note that with both of these definitions there are two ways to deal with the restriction on x
and the one in parenthesis is probably the easier to use, although the main one given more
closely matches the definition of the normal limit above.

Let’s work a quick example of one of these, although as you’ll see they work in much the
same manner as the normal limit problems do.

Example 4 Use the definition of the limit to prove the following limit.

lim √x = 0
+
x→0

Show Solution 

Let’s now move onto the definition of infinite limits. Here are the two definitions that we
need to cover both possibilities, limits that are positive infinity and limits that are negative
infinity.

Definition 4

Let f (x) be a function defined on an interval that contains x = a , except possibly at

x = a . Then we say that,

lim f (x) = ∞
x→a

if for every number M > 0 there is some number δ > 0 such that

f (x) > M whenever 0 < |x − a| < δ

Definition 5

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Let f (x) be a function defined on an interval that contains x = a , except possibly at

x = a . Then we say that,

lim f (x) = −∞
x→a

if for every number N < 0 there is some number δ > 0 such that

f (x) < N whenever 0 < |x − a| < δ

In these two definitions note that M must be a positive number and that N must be a
negative number. That’s an easy distinction to miss if you aren’t paying close attention.

Also note that we could also write down definitions for one-sided limits that are infinity if we
wanted to. We’ll leave that to you to do if you’d like to.

Here is a quick sketch illustrating Definition 4.

What Definition 4 is telling us is that no matter how large we choose M to be we can

always find an interval around x = a , given by 0 < |x − a| < δ for some number δ, so
that as long as we stay within that interval the graph of the function will be above the line
y = M as shown in the graph above. Also note that we don’t need the function to actually
exist at x = a in order for the definition to hold. This is also illustrated in the graph above.

Note as well that the larger M is the smaller we’re probably going to need to make δ.

To see an illustration of Definition 5 reflect the above graph about the x-axis and you’ll see
a sketch of Definition 5.

Let’s work a quick example of one of these to see how these differ from the previous
examples.

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Example 5 Use the definition of the limit to prove the following limit.

1
lim = ∞
2
x→0 x

Show Solution 

For our next set of limit definitions let’s take a look at the two definitions for limits at infinity.
Again, we need one for a limit at plus infinity and another for negative infinity.

Definition 6

Let f (x) be a function defined on x > K for some K . Then we say that,

lim f (x) = L
x→∞

if for every number ε > 0 there is some number M > 0 such that

|f (x) − L| < ε whenever x > M

Definition 7

Let f (x) be a function defined on x < K for some K . Then we say that,

lim f (x) = L
x→−∞

if for every number ε > 0 there is some number N < 0 such that

|f (x) − L| < ε whenever x < N

To see what these definitions are telling us here is a quick sketch illustrating Definition 6.
Definition 6 tells us is that no matter how close to L we want to get, mathematically this is
given by |f (x) − L| < ε for any chosen ε, we can find another number M such that
provided we take any x bigger than M , then the graph of the function for that x will be
closer to L than either L − ε and L + ε. Or, in other words, the graph will be in the
shaded region as shown in the sketch below.

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Finally, note that the smaller we make ε the larger we’ll probably need to make M .

Here’s a quick example of one of these limits.

Example 6 Use the definition of the limit to prove the following limit.

1
lim = 0
x→−∞ x

Show Solution 

For our final limit definition let’s look at limits at infinity that are also infinite in value. There
are four possible limits to define here. We’ll do one of them and leave the other three to you
to write down if you’d like to.

Definition 8

Let f (x) be a function defined on x > K for some K . Then we say that,

lim f (x) = ∞
x→∞

if for every number N > 0 there is some number M > 0 such that

f (x) > N whenever x > M

The other three definitions are almost identical. The only differences are the signs of M
and/or N and the corresponding inequality directions.

As a final definition in this section let’s recall that we previously said that a function was
continuous if,

lim f (x) = f (a)

x→a

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So, since continuity, as we previously defined it, is defined in terms of a limit we can also
now give a more precise definition of continuity. Here it is,

Definition 9

Let f (x) be a function defined on an interval that contains x = a . Then we say that f (x)
is continuous at x = a if for every number ε > 0 there is some number δ > 0 such that

|f (x) − f (a)| < ε whenever 0 < |x − a| < δ

This definition is very similar to the first definition in this section and of course that should
make some sense since that is exactly the kind of limit that we’re doing to show that a
function is continuous. The only real difference is that here we need to make sure that the
function is actually defined at x = a , while we didn’t need to worry about that for the first
definition since limits don’t really care what is happening at the point.

We won’t do any examples of proving a function is continuous at a point here mostly

because we’ve already done some examples. Go back and look at the first three examples.
In each of these examples the value of the limit was the value of the function evaluated at
x = a and so in each of these examples not only did we prove the value of the limit we
also managed to prove that each of these functions are continuous at the point in question.

© 2003 - 2025 Paul Dawkins Page Last Modified : 3/4/2024

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